sanguinary,
sanguine Sometimes confused. Use
sanguinary to describe something "involving or
causing much bloodshed." Or try simpler bloody
to describe something that's "covered with blood or
are made up of blood." Use sanguine to describe
something that's "the color of blood or
blood-red" or to describe someone who's
"cheerfully optimistic."

scan Scan used
to mean "examining something carefully to find a
particular person or thing." But it now commonly means
just the opposite: "reading something quickly to get its
main meaning or find a particular detail."

scenario Overused cliche. Avoid,
unless writing about the outline of a plot, play or film. For
other uses, delete or try chain of events, plan or
situation.

scores Use
numerals when giving game scores, separating the scores with
a hyphen: The Seattle Mariners won 12-4. Use commas
to separate team names and scores: Mariners 12, Yankees
4.

Scouts
Depending on their age, boys involved in Cub
Scouting, Boy Scouting or Exploring
are Cub Scouts or Cubs, Boy Scouts
or Scouts, and Explorers. Girls can also be
Explorers. Depending on their age, girls involved in
Girl Scouting are Brownie Girl Scouts or
Brownies, Junior Girl Scouts or
Juniors, Cadette Girl Scouts or
Cadettes, and Senior Girl Scouts or
Seniors.

seasonable,
seasonal Sometimes confused. Seasonable
applies to things that are suitable or appropriate for a
particular season: seasonable weather.
Seasonal applies to things that happen, are
available or are needed only during a particular season:
The store usually hires seasonal help for the Christmas
rush.

seasons
Lowercase spring, summer, fall and winter.
Don't separate the season and the year with a comma:
The report is scheduled to come out in summer 2004.

SeaTac A
city in King County, Washington. No space between
Sea and Tac.

section
Capitalize the name of the department's organizational
sections: Environmental Planning Section. Also
capitalize when used with a numeral to name part of a law or
bill: Section 201 of the U.S. Clean Water Act. See
capitalization.

semiannual Means "twice a
year." To avoid reader confusion, use twice a
year instead of semiannual. see bi-, semi-.

semicolon(;)
The semicolon has three main uses, although the first use
below is the most common. The semicolon shows a greater
separation of thought and information than a comma but less
separation than a period.

First, use semicolons to separate parts of a series when at
least one item in the series also has a comma. A semicolon
also goes before the final and in such a series:
Attending were Tina Lopez, 223 Main St.; Ron Larson, 1414
Broadway; and Robert Zimmerman, 1976 E. Pine St.

The following two uses can add variety, eliminate a word or
two, and closely link contrasting or related ideas. But
breaking a long sentence with a semicolon into two or more
shorter sentences can aid readability and clarity.

Second, use a semicolon to link two (or more) closely related
statements that could stand alone as independent sentences
(or clauses): The train arrived on time; the passengers
were overjoyed. If a coordinating conjunction such as
and, but or or separates the two
independent clauses, a comma would replace the semicolon:
The train arrived on time, and the passengers were
overjoyed.

Third, use a semicolon between two independent clauses when
the second clause begins with transition words such as
therefore, however, thus and
for example: The department had planned to drop
the service; however, overwhelming customer demand persuaded
officials to keep it.

Place semicolons outside quotation marks. Put only one space
after a semicolon.

sensual, sensuous
Sometimes confused. Use sensual to describe enjoying
physical pleasure, especially sexual gratification. Think
"sexy": sensual desires. Use
sensuous to describe something pleasing to the
senses; it applies to aesthetic pleasures such as art, music
and food and doesn't involve sexual stimulation:
sensuous music. And if one leads to the other,
wonderful!

sentence
length Varying sentence length makes writing more
interesting and easier to read. Include only one idea in a
sentence, with an average length of 20 to 25 words. Shorter
sentences, 10-15 words or less, are good for emphatic,
memorable statements. Try including a short sentence every
three or four sentences. Longer sentences, no more than about
30 words, are good for detailed explanation and support. See
lists, period. Also see Myths and Superstitions of
Writing.

separate Commonly misspelled.
Remember that two a's go in the middle, and the
two e's near the ends.

serve,
service Sometimes misused, especially
service. Serve has the broader use,
especially for providing goods and services that people want
or need. Use it when writing about fulfilling a duty or
working for, helping or obeying someone. Use service
to describe installation and maintenance of things:
Mechanics service trucks. Also, try using simpler
repair instead of service.

service
mark A brand, design, phrase, symbol or word
used by a service supplier and protected by law to prevent
inappropriate use by a competitor. If you must use a service
mark, capitalize it. Unless use of a service mark is
essential, replace it with a generic term (lowercased):
real estate agent, not Realtor. You
don't have to use the service mark symbol--SM. See brand names, trademark.

set, sit
Sometimes confused. Use set when you're putting
something down. An object usually follows set:
He set the book onto the table. She set the child into
the crib. Use sit when you're putting
yourself into a chair or others are putting themselves into a
chair. An object doesn't have to follow sit:
He will sit there all day if we let him. Other verb
forms of set: set, setting. Other verb
forms of sit: sat, sitting, seat, seated,
seating. Use sat, not sitted.

sewage, sewerage,
sewers, effluent, wastewaterSewage is
the collective term for household and commercial wastewater
that contains human waste. Sewerage is obscure
jargon for the entire system of pipes, pump stations, tanks
and so on that collects, transports, treats and discharges
both sewage and other kinds of wastewater. Instead, call it a
sewage system, sewer system or
wastewater system. Sewers are the pipes or
pipelines that carry sewage. Wastewater, usually
interchangeable in meaning with sewage, is all the
waste treated by sewage treatment plants, including human
waste, industrial waste and liquid waste from other sources.
Effluent is treated sewage and wastewater discharged
into the environment.

Avoid the outdated use of words that restrict meaning to
males. Include all people in general references by
substituting unbiased, asexual words and phrases:
informal agreement for gentlemen's
agreement, homemaker for housewife,
employees and their spouses for employees and
their wives.

Here are other examples: hours worked, staff hours
or working hours for man-hours; people, men and
women, human beings, the human race, civilization or
humanity for mankind; physical strength,
resources, human effort, staff, workers or work
force for manpower; artificial, synthetic,
manufactured or handmade for manmade;
and large, big, generous or formidable for
man-sized. Also, think about using sewer access,
pipeline opening, utility maintenance hole or
utility access hole for manhole. See
man.

Avoid using man or woman as a suffix or
prefix in job titles: Substitute business executive,
business leader or businessperson for
businessman; worker, laborer or employee
for workman; camera operator, videographer or
cinematographer for cameraman; firefighter
for fireman; letter carrier, mail carrier or postal
worker for mailman; and sales representative,
agent or clerk for salesman. Use
generic titles or descriptions for both men and women. Avoid
writing about woman managers, male secretaries, men's
work, women's interests such as recipe swapping, sewing
and fashion. See chairman,
chairperson, chairwoman.

Reword sentences to drop unnecessary gender pronouns,
especially the outdated generic he and his
but also she and her. Here are some
alternatives:

Try dropping use of any pronoun.

Substitute the articles a or the for the
pronoun where suitable.

Use the plural pronouns they and their
with plural nouns: Workers ... they. Not The
worker ... he. Using plural pronouns with singular
nouns is not, yet, widely accepted: The worker ...
they. See their, them,
their.

Use he or she and his or hers--but
don't overdo it. Alternate between using those phrases
and other alternatives. See he or she,
he/she; his,
his/her.

Repeat the original noun or use synonyms for second
references to nouns like the worker or
workers. But don't overdo that either. Make
sure it's clear to readers the synonyms refer to the
same person or people.

Refer to women and men equally and consistently: Middle
school teachers Larry Carson and Emily Johnson won the
awards. Not: Middle school teachers Larry Carson and
Mrs. Gus Johnson won the awards. See Miss, Mr., Mrs., Ms..

Use parallel language when mentioning people by gender:
Substitute husband and wife for man and wife,
ladies and gentlemen for ladies and men (or
gentlemen and ladies, for variety). Neither men nor
women over the age of 18 are boys or girls.
Usually, use woman and man as the noun and
female and male as the adjective. See
female,
male.

Give equal respect to women and men. Do not describe men by
mental qualities or professional position and,
simultaneously, describe women by physical features. Only
refer to appearance, charm, intuition or physical strength
when relevant.

sexual orientation The
scientifically accurate term for an individual's enduring
physical, romantic or emotional attraction to members of the
same or opposite sex. Don't use sexual
preference, which implies that sexuality is a matter of
choice. Cite a person's sexual orientation only when it
is relevant. See gay,
lesbian; husband, wife; same-sex marriage.

share, sharing Sharing
is wonderful, but don't use it redundantly: sharing
together, sharing the same office or sharing the
same birthday. Drop together from the first
example, and reword the others: using the same office,
sharing an office, having the same birthday, sharing a
birthday. Also redundant: both share and
share in common. Use they share instead,
and drop in common.

Sheetrock A trademark for a
brand of gypsum wallboard. Use plasterboard instead.

she Do not use
this pronoun to refer to ships or nations. Use it
instead.

sheriff
Commonly misspelled. Capitalize when used as an official
title before a name: Benton County Sheriff Wyatt Dillon,
county Sheriff Wyatt Dillon. Do not abbreviate
sheriff. Capitalize Sheriff's Office with
or without the name of the county when referring to a
particular sheriff's office.

On first reference, capitalize an officer's rank when
used as a formal title only before the name of a
sheriff's officer (as well as before the name of police
officer or firefighter). Except in direct quotations,
abbreviate most military-style titles used before the name of
a person: Lt., Capt., Sgt., Maj. Add police or
fire before other titles if needed for clarity:
county Sheriff Sgt. Smitty Williams, police Capt. John
Davidson. Spell out detective and other titles not
used in the military. Don't continue using the title with
the name in later references. Use only the last name.

should,
would Use should to express an obligation
(meaning "ought to"), a condition (an
"if" statement) or an expectation: We should
help the needy. If I win the lottery, I should give at least
10 percent to charity. They should be back in 15
minutes. Use would to express a usual action, a
hypothetical situation or a preference: In the summer we
would spend hours by the seashore. She would do it if she
could. I would like to see you. See could of, may of, might of,
must of, should of, would of; ought to.

sic This
Latin word means "thus" or "so." Usually
bracketed and in italics, it's used after quoted material
to show that an error, odd usage or misspelling is in the
original document. But avoid using unless you must keep the
error for historical or technical accuracy--or want to appear
snide. Think about paraphrasing the mistaken word, phrase or
statement instead.

sight, site
Sometimes confused. Sight is about seeing, from
"the ability to see" to "things you see,
can't see or should see." We go
sightseeing. And we set our sights on
something we look forward to doing. Site is about a
place, "a place where something happened," "a
place where something could be built" or "a place
on the World Wide Web." Site is also a verb for
"putting something in a particular place."
Don't confuse with cite. See cite.

simple,
simplySimple is unnecessary and wordy
in phrases like simple reason, simple truth, simple
purpose. Simply is often redundant and wordy
when used to mean "absolutely" or
"extremely": The Rolling Stones concert was
simply thrilling. Simplify. Drop simple and
simply.

Skid Road, Skid
Row The term Skid Road started in
Seattle, where dirt roads were used to skid logs to the mill.
It later became a synonym for the area where loggers
gathered, usually among rooming houses and saloons. In other
cities, Row has replaced Road in many
references to areas that are havens for derelicts.

slow, slowlySlowly is the more common adverb to modify a verb,
adjective or other adverb, but slow is also
acceptable as an adverb (as well as an adjective to modify
nouns and pronouns). Let your ear be your guide: He
complained that his computer runs slowly. Her car is really
slow, but her children say she drives slow.

snafu
Originally an acronym used by soldiers during World War II
for "situation normal: all fucked up" (or, perhaps,
"all fouled up"). Lowercased, it now means "a
situation marked by errors or confusion" or "an
error causing such a situation."

so Like the
conjunctions and, but and yet, so
is a useful, correct transition word at the beginning of
sentences--instead of as a result, consequently and
therefore. For emphasis, so may be followed
by a comma. See and,
but; thus; yet.

soda, soft
drinkSoft drink is probably the most
common term for carbonated, flavored and sweetened
nonalcoholic drinks in the United States. Usually called
pop in the Midwest and West and soda in the
Northeast and around St. Louis, Missouri. In the South, soft
drinks are called cold drink, drink and
Coke, even when it's not Coca Cola. And around
Boston: tonic.

softwareSoftware is a
mass (or non-count) noun, like postage, research,
machinery, hardware, cash, advice and mail.
Mass nouns take singular verbs. To refer to software
in countable or measurable--and plural--terms, add countable
phrases or use software as an adjective: Three
types of software are available. Three software products are
available. Capitalize software titles like
Windows and PageMaker. Use quotation marks
around only computer game titles: "Where in the
World is Carmen San Diego?"

some time, sometime,
sometimes Sometimes confused. Use some
time (two words) to refer to "an unspecified period
or time": He had hoped to meet her for some time.
They met some time ago. Use sometime to mean
"at an unstated time or an indefinite time in the
future": She'll meet you sometime after work.
Let's get together sometime. It also means
"former": The sometime colleagues hadn't
seen each other for years. Use sometimes to
mean "occasionally": They now write each other
sometimes.

something,
somewhat
Sometimes confused. Avoid using the weak word
somewhat. But if you must use it, use it only as an
adverb to describe a verb, adjective or other adverb.
Somewhat means "a little, slightly":
somewhat scary, somewhat boring. Don't use
somewhat as a noun; use something instead:
David may be somewhat hungry, but he can't be
somewhat of pest about eating. He can be
something of a pest about eating, however.

SOV Abbreviation
for single-occupant vehicle. Avoid use of this
abbreviation.

spacing
Put only one space after all punctuation marks--unless no
space is needed, such as between adjacent punctuation marks
and before and after a dash and a hyphen. This
guideline applies to the colon, period and other punctuation
marks at the end of a sentence: exclamation
point, question
mark.

To prevent a person's initials from splitting between two
lines of type, don't put a space between them: T.S.
Eliot. Also, don't put spaces before or after hyphens, dashes or virgules. But
treat an ellipsis like a
word, with a space before and after it.

Either put one space between paragraphs or indent paragraphs;
doing both is usually redundant.

spade, spayed
Sometimes confused or misspelled. You use a spade--a
shovel--to dig a hole in the ground. It's also one of the
two black symbols in a deck of cards. After you sterilize
your pet to prevent unwanted offspring, she's been
spayed.

species
Same in singular and plural. Unless writing about coined
money, don't use the substandard specie as the
singular form. Use singular or plural verbs and pronouns with
species depending on the sense: The species has
been unable to maintain itself. Both species are
extinct. See family, genus,
species; fish; taxonomy.

For spelling and definitions not covered in this manual,
check another manual or your dictionary, such as the New
Oxford American Dictionary. The Associated Press prefers
Webster's New World College Dictionary. If two
(or more) spellings are listed, use the first one unless your
style manual lists a specific exception. If your dictionary
provides different spellings in separate entries
(gray and grey, for example) use the
spelling followed by a full definition (gray). If a
dictionary entry is listed as usually or
often, use that entry.

spell
out Hackneyed. Use explain,
specify, show, describe or
detail instead. And don't spell out in
detail.

spiritual,
spirituous Sometimes confused.
Spiritual is an adjective for describing things
related to or affecting the human spirit or soul rather than
things that are material or physical. Spirituous is
an adjective for describing things containing alcohol,
especially distilled beverages.

split infinitives
Splitting the infinitive forms of a verb, such as to
leave or to help, is grammatically correct.
It's also useful to readers and helps strengthen the
meaning of a sentence by placing the modifier before the word
it's modifying: He wanted to really impress the
council. But avoid awkward sentence constructions that
split the infinitive, as in this sentence: Try to not
awkwardly or incorrectly split infinitives. See
Garbl's Myths and
Superstitions of Writing.

sport-utility
vehicle No s at the end of sport.
Hyphenate. SUV is acceptable on second reference:
SUVs are vehicles that combine sport and utility while
using too much gas and endangering smaller cars.

staff
Collective noun, it takes singular verbs: The staff is
working on the project.Staff members may be
used, if needed: Staff members are working on the
project. See collective nouns, man.

stalactite,
stalagmite Sometimes confused or misspelled. A
stalactite hangs from the ceiling of a cave. A
stalagmite rises from the floor. Memory aide: A
stalactite is stuck tight to the ceiling.

stanch,
staunch Sometimes misused or confused. The verb
stanch means "to stop or restrict (a flow of
blood)." Use the adjective staunch to describe
someone as "loyal and committed" or something as
"strong or firm."

state (v.)
Say or said is often a better word than
state or stated in most writing. Tell
us or write are other choices. State
sounds formal or stilted, unless you're stating something
officially and specifically: The school's complaint
policy states that all letters will be researched thoroughly.
The school's complaint policy states, "All letters
will be researched thoroughly." See attribution.

state names,
states Spell out the names of the 50 U.S.
states: He moved to Washington after living 20 years in
New York. Also spell out state names when used with the
names of U.S. cities, counties, towns or villages. State
names may be abbreviated in charts and tables.

For punctuation, place one comma between the city and the
state name and another comma after the state name, unless
ending a sentence: She moved to Portland, Oregon, from
Portland, Maine. Do not use ZIP code spellings for state
names in written text unless part of an address. See
ZIP code.

Use state of Washington or Washington
state--with lowercase state--when necessary to
distinguish the state from the District of Columbia.
See District of
Columbia.

Lowercase state when used as an adjective: a
state map, the state government. They
visited the state of Washington. Capitalize state when
writing about the state government: He worked for the
State of Washington.

Do not capitalize state when used simply as an
adjective to specify a level of jurisdiction: state Rep.
Ellen Berger, state Department of Social Services, state
funds, state Department of Ecology. But capitalize the
full name of state governmental units: Washington State
Department of Ecology. See ecology,Ecology; governmental
bodies.

strait, straight
Sometimes confused or misspelled. Think of strait as
narrow, tight or confined, like a narrow channel between two
bodies of water, a straitjacket to confine a
person's arms, and a strait-laced family with
strict moral views. And think of straight as
something that's not bent, curved, leaning or dishonest.
Someone who's straight and narrow follows a
law-abiding, moral path. And someone who's in dire
straits is passing through a distressing time.

subcommittee Lowercase when
used with the name of a legislative body: a City Council
subcommittee. Capitalize when a subcommittee has a
proper name of its own: the City Council's Long-Range
Planning Subcommittee.

subsequently Overstated and
formal. Four syllables and 12 letters. Simplify. Try
later, after, next or then.

suffixes See separate listings
for commonly used suffixes. Usually, do not hyphenate words
formed with the suffixes wide, down, less. If in
doubt, follow your preferred dictionary. If it does not list
a word combination, use two words for the verb form and
hyphenate any noun or adjective forms. See capitalization, titles.

Here are some general rules:

The suffix -able is more common than
-ible, and it is used mostly with complete root
words: workable, dependable, changeable,
noticeable. The final e is dropped in some
root words: desirable, excusable, indispensable,
usable.

suicide
Often a touchy subject for family members, friends, the
police, and mental health authorities. Don't go into
detail about methods used. If authorities determine its use,
avoid using committed suicide except in direct
quotations. Instead, try killed himself, took her own
life or died by suicide. And refer to an
attempted suicide instead of an unsuccessful
suicide attempt. Where legally permitted, medically
assisted suicide is clearer than terms like death
with dignity.

summertime Janis
Joplin and others sing a powerful "Summertime." But
summer is simpler.

supervisor Capitalize as an
official job title before a name: Division Three
Supervisor Connie Tyler. Lowercase when standing alone
or between commas after a name: Keith Jagger, motor pool
supervisor, thanked his crew. See capitalization, titles.

supersede Commonly misspelled.
Not supercede. It's the only English word that
ends with -sede. Also, think about using the simpler
replace.

supplement Simplify. Try
add to or go with instead of
supplement. Also, think about using simpler
extra, more, added, another or spare for
supplementary and supplemental.

support
Vague verb with multiple meanings. Be more precise if
possible: consider hold up or carry,
help or encourage, uphold or
agree with, maintain or provide
for, prove or confirm, endure
or tolerate, keep up or sustain.

supposably,
supposedly, supposingly Sometimes confused.
Supposedly is usually the correct choice. Use it to
mention something that might be true or real though you may
not believe it. If you must use supposably, first
find a dictionary and then try to figure out what it means.
You'll find supposingly in a dictionary of words
that don't exist.